Centerline

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT CENTERLINE

Alicia Robinson The Orange County Transportation Authority's board of directors will officially decide the fate of the CenterLine light-rail line Monday, but those involved say it's a foregone conclusion that the project is headed for the transportation scrap heap. The board is expected to vote to shelve CenterLine, which would have run from Santa Ana through Costa Mesa to John Wayne Airport. It started as an 11.4-mile line that would also pass through Irvine, but even a pared-down 9.3-mile alignment was expected to cost $1.1 billion.

Paul Clinton NEWPORT BEACH -- They're not sold on light rail. Worried about the potential for increased passenger loads at John Wayne Airport, city officials have questioned the environmental review on the $2.3-billion CenterLine project. The city's concerns about the project come on the eve of the Orange County Transportation Authority's expected decision to choose a route for the massive public works project. "The fact that there's a light rail connection may make Orange County more attractive" to visitors, Mayor Gary Adams said.

In recent months there has been a good deal of attention given to the ill-advised light rail project CenterLine. This summer the Daily Pilot provided a couple of excellent articles on it and recently elected Councilman Eric Bever wrote a commentary about it. The thrust of one Daily Pilot piece had to do with a recent "survey," which indicated that a majority of Orange County residents polled supported CenterLine....

Deirdre Newman The county will postpone deciding on the preferred route for the CenterLine light rail system until January. The county was scheduled to select a route next week, but Orange County Transportation Authority staff members are recommending its board of directors take more time to absorb the public comments on the environmental report received in the past month-and-a-half. CenterLine is slated to run from Santa Ana to John Wayne Airport, through Costa Mesa.

Deirdre Newman The impasse over the city's desire to underground its portion of the CenterLine light rail system could kill the project if it is not resolved in a timely manner, according to a report released by the Orange County Grand Jury on Wednesday. The Orange County Transportation Authority's project calls for an 11.4-mile route to traverse the cities of Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and Irvine with a construction cost of $1.5 billion. The South Coast Plaza business community wants the CenterLine to run underground so the light rail system doesn't interfere with existing developments, such as South Coast Plaza.

Deirdre Newman Refusing to let opposition to CenterLine derail the project, county officials are chugging along in their mission to build the light rail system, which could see trains transporting commuters from this city, Santa Ana and Irvine. Officials are collecting the public's feedback on the project's environmental report, and on Dec. 8, the county is scheduled to vote on which route CenterLine will follow when construction starts in 2006.

Deirdre Newman After a spirited debate on whether the Centerline light-rail project should go on the November ballot, the Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors voted narrowly against it. Friday, the board could muster only four votes to put CenterLine -- which is already in the final stage of preliminary engineering -- on the ballot in November. It needed six. Nine board members attended the meeting. The vote was purely advisory and would have had to be approved by the county Board of Supervisors.

The Orange County Transportation Authority board has extended its public comment period for the CenterLine project to Valentine's Day. The proposed CenterLine rail transit project includes a 28-mile, countywide rail system that is expected to eventually shuttle commuters between transportation centers in Fullerton and Irvine. Authority spokesman George Urch said the board decided to accept comments for an additional two weeks because the original comment period, which was to end Thursday, spanned the holidays, when some people may have been distracted from focusing on the project.

OCTA will host light rail open house The Orange County Transportation Authority will host an open house in Costa Mesa on Tuesday to provide the public with information and to answer questions on the CenterLine light rail project. The public open houses are part of a process called preliminary engineering for the planned 11.4-mile CenterLine project that will run from downtown Santa Ana through the South Coast Plaza area to John Wayne Airport and ends at UC Irvine.

CenterLine meeting set for next month The Orange County Transportation Authority will host an open house and public hearing in Costa Mesa on Nov. 12. The event will let the public know about environmental studies on four options for the CenterLine light-rail project. By the end of the year, the authority's board of directors is expected to select a preferred starting route for CenterLine and the public input received through these hearing will be used during the discussion.